‘Gay mafia’ in Polish Church, claims controversial priest

A controversial priest and Solidarity veteran has claimed that the Church in Poland is compromised by a “gay mafia” which “can destroy anyone” in its path.

“The gay lobby in the Church can destroy anyone who gets in its way,” claims Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski in his latest book, 'I am only interested in the truth' (Chodzi mi tylko o prawde).

The priest is not new to controversy, having caused a storm in 2006 by publishing research which alleged collaboration of priests with the communist-era security services.

In his latest volume, which takes the form of an interview with the editor of the conservative, right wing journal Fronda, the priest claims that Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow, had specifically requested him to avoid homosexual references in the earlier book about communist collaboration.

When asked in the current publication whether “homosexuality is a problem in the clergy”, the priest replied that “the higher up you go, the worse it gets.”

He also claimed knowledge of one curia where “from the bishop down to the butler, everyone working there is of such a tendency.”

Isakowicz-Zaleski argued that “it cannot be so that someone receives an important position solely because of his homosexuality.”

He also claimed that during his research into the communist-era files, he discovered a custom whereby clergymen were sent to Rome when the Curia “was unable to cope with the homosexuality of a priest.”

Isakowicz-Zaleski added that “homosexual circles have always had a strong influence at the Vatican.”

The priest, who runs a charitable foundation near Krakow, is descended from a prominent Polish-Armenian family and is a figurehead for the Armenian Catholic Church in Poland.

‘Super agent’

When researching his 2006 book, Isakowicz-Zaleski says that after he found evidence of widespread collaboration by priests with the communist authorities, he was told by the Krakow archdiocese to “throw the material in the incinerator”.

When he persisted with the research, Krakow’s Cardinal Dziwisz – a longtime aid to John Paul II - condemned his "irresponsible and harmful" activities, warned him to stop "throwing accusations” and banned him from speaking to the media.